Eastertide
May 2, 2018
Scripture Reading: Psalm 98
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity. –Psalm 98:7-9
Equity is a free and reasonable conformity to accepted standards of natural right, law, and justice without prejudice, favoritism, or fraud and without rigor entailing undue hardship: justice according to natural law or right: fairness*
God judges with equity. Is that the standard he expects of us? How do we know when we are judging without prejudice, favoritism, or fraud? As the song from South Pacific **indicates we have been carefully taught to discriminate.
You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear
You’ve got to be taught from year to year
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught**
The first step is to recognize that we all have been carefully taught cultural norms about acceptance of people different from us. The more crucial step is to accept that we are the only ones, with God’s help, who can do anything about it. The third step is to do something about it.
I suggest we start by dedicating a week to analyzing our responses to people. Who do we become nervous about standing near in a crowd? What parts of our community do we avoid driving through at night? Who bothers us when we think they he or she is not properly dressed? What words or phrases have we used all your life about which we have become aware may be offensive to others? Are we understanding of their discomfort or do we just think they should get a life? Do we racially profile?
There are many books and other training materials available to help us unlearn that which we have been carefully taught wrongly. Take change one step at a time but take them.
Prayer: Holy Judge, give me the vision to see myself as diverse people might view me. Carefully teach me your ways of making everyday judgments. Amen.
*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/equity
**See complete lyrics at https://genius.com/Richard-rodgers-youve-got-to-be-carefully-taught-lyrics